Famous William Cowper Quotations

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"The life of ease is a difficult pursuit."
by William Cowper
"Thus happiness depends, as nature shows, less on exterior things than most suppose."
by William Cowper
"Existence is a strange bargain. Life owes us little; we owe it everything. The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose."
by William Cowper
"A hat not much the worse for wear."
by William Cowper
"A land-breeze shook the shrouds, / And she was overset; / Down went the Royal George, / With all her crew complete."
by William Cowper
"And up he got, in haste to ride, / But soon came down again."
by William Cowper
"Glory built on selfish principles is shame and guilt."
by William Cowper
"He has no hope who never had a fear."
by William Cowper
"He found it inconvenient to be poor."
by William Cowper
"He kissed likewise the maid in the kitchen, and seemed upon the whole a most loving, kissing, kind-hearted gentleman."
by William Cowper
"Hence jarring sectaries may learnTheir real interest to discern;That brother should not war with brother,And worry and devour each other;But sing and shine by sweet consent,Till life's poor transient night is spent,Respecting in each other's caseThe gifts of nature and of grace."
by William Cowper
"I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute; From the center all round to the sea, I am lord of the fowl and the brute"
by William Cowper
"Low ambition and the thirst of praise."
by William Cowper
"Manner is all in all whatever is writ, the substitute for genius sense and wit"
by William Cowper
"No man can be a patriot on an empty stomach."
by William Cowper
"Not scorned in Heaven, though little noticed here."
by William Cowper
"O Winter ruler of the inverted year, . . . I crown thee king of intimate delights, Fireside enjoyments, home-born happiness, And all the comforts that the lowly roof Of undisturb'd Retirement, and the hours Of long uninterrupted evening, know."
by William Cowper
"Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round, And, while the bubbling and loud hissing urn Throws up a steamy column and the cups That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, So let us welcome peaceful ev"
by William Cowper
"Our severest winter, commonly called the spring."
by William Cowper
"Religion does not censure or excludeUnnumbered pleasures, harmlessly pursued."
by William Cowper
"That good diffused may more abundant grow."
by William Cowper
"The dinner waits, and we are tired: / Said Gilpin - So am I!"
by William Cowper
"The path of sorrow and that path alone, leads to a land where sorrow is unknown."
by William Cowper
"The only true happiness comes from squandering ourselves for a purpose."
by William Cowper
"They whom truth and wisdom lead, can gather honey from a weed."
by William Cowper
"To follow foolish precedents, and winkWith both our eyes, is easier than to think."
by William Cowper
"We perished, each alone: / But I beneath a rougher sea, / And whelmed in deeper gulfs than he."
by William Cowper
"When this poor, lisping, stammering tongue/ Lies silent in the grave."
by William Cowper
"Wisdom is humble that he knows no more."
by William Cowper
"With spots quadrangular of diamond form,/ Ensanguined hearts, clubs typical of strife, / And spades, the emblem of untimely graves."
by William Cowper
"Words learned by rote a parrot may rehearse; but talking is not always to converse, not more distinct from harmony divine, the constant creaking of a country sign."
by William Cowper
"A fretful temper will divide the closest knot that may be tied, by ceaseless sharp corrosion; a temper passionate and fierce may suddenly your joys disperse at one immense explosion."
by William Cowper
"The wisest is he that knows only that he knows nothing. God only knows. We mortals are only troubled with morbid little ideas, sired by circumstance and damned by folly. The human head can absorb only the flavorings of its surroundings. We assume that our faith political and our creed religious are founded upon our reason, when they are really made for us by social conditions over which we had little control."
by William Cowper Brann
"No wild enthusiast could rest, till half the world like him was possessed."
by William Cowper
"Fanaticism soberly defined, is the false fire of an over heated mind."
by William Cowper
"You told me, I remember, glory, built On selfish principles, is shame and guilt; The deeds that men admire as half divine, Stark naught, because corrupt in their design. Strange doctrine this! that without scruple tears The laurel that the very lightning spares; Brings down the warrior"
by William Cowper
"God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs, And works His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan His work in vain: God is His own interpreter, And he will make it plain."
by William Cowper
"Visitors are insatiable devourers of time, and fit only for those who, if they did not visit, would do nothing."
by William Cowper
"Man disavows, and Deity disowns me: hell might afford my miseries a shelter; therefore hell keeps her ever-hungry mouths all bolted against me."
by William Cowper
"Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will."
by William Cowper
"A life of ease is a difficult pursuit."
by William Cowper
"God made the country and man made the town."
by William Cowper
"A self-made man? Yes, and one who worships his creator."
by William Cowper
"It chills my blood to hear the blest Supreme rudely appealed to on each trifling theme."
by William Cowper
"How much a dunce that has been sent to roam, excels a dunce that has been kept at home."
by William Cowper
"Unless a love of virtue light the flame, Satire is, more than those he brands, to blame; He hides behind a magisterial air He own offences, and strips others' bare."
by William Cowper
"I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, for how could we do without sugar and rum?"
by William Cowper
"Forced from home, and all its pleasures, afric coast I left forlorn; to increase a stranger's treasures, o the raging billows borne. Men from England bought and sold me, paid my price in paltry gold; but, though theirs they have enroll'd me, minds are never to be sold."
by William Cowper
"No one was ever scolded out of their sins."
by William Cowper
"Oh to have a lodge in some vast wilderness. Where rumors of oppression and deceit, of unsuccessful and successful wars may never reach me anymore."
by William Cowper
"Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of shade, Where rumour of oppression and deceit, Of unsuccessful or successful war, Might never reach me more."
by William Cowper
"Candid and generous and just. Boys care but little whom they trust. An error soon corrected -- for who but learns in riper years. That man, when smoothest he appears, is most to be suspected?"
by William Cowper
"He is the freeman whom the truth makes free."
by William Cowper
"Ceremony leads her bigots forth, prepared to fight for shadows of no worth. While truths, on which eternal things depend, can hardly find a single friend."
by William Cowper
"I am monarch of all I survey, My right there is none to dispute on; but I wish that I could get away And go home to the village of Bruton."
by William Cowper
"Variety is the very spice of life that gives it all its flavour."
by William Cowper
"But misery still delights to trace Its 'semblance in another's case...."
by William Cowper
"My Mother! when I learnt that thou wast dead, Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?..."
by William Cowper


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